Poetry Stamps/Vocabula Writing Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Books are not rolls, to be devoured only when they are hot and fresh. A good book retains its interior heat and will warm a generation yet unborn. ~ Clifton Fadiman

On April 21, the U.S. Postal Service® will begin sale of Twentieth-Century Poets stamps honoring ten of the nation’s most admired poets: Elizabeth Bishop, Joseph Brodsky, Gwendolyn Brooks, E. E. Cummings, Robert Hayden, Denise Levertov, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Wallace Stevens, and Wil­liam Carlos Williams. The many awards won by this illustri­ous group include numerous Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and honorary degrees. Each stamp features a photograph of one of the ten poets and text on the back of the stamp sheet includes an excerpt from one poem by each poet.

VOCABULA WELL-WRITTEN WRITING CONTEST
http://www.vocabula.com/popupads/VRWritingContest.asp

Deadline May 31, 2012.

Send “200 to 500 words of readable, well-written, even beautiful
writing,” fiction or nonfiction, no poetry. Your first entry is free. $15 fee for each entry after your first.

1st prize $200, 2nd prize $100, 3rd prize $50. Winners and honorable mentions receive a one-year subscription to The Vocabula Review.

The web site has a link where you can read the prior winners.

Nail Your Query/Blackbird Literary Journal

Apropos to the query/rejection process: Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Don't sabotage your writing by submitting a poorly written query. The best queries are targeted for a specific market, but first you need to get the basics down. Marla Miller has about 90 “quick query” analysis samples on her web site: http://www.marlamiller.com/quick-query-critiques/.  Various genres are included from children’s to romance to memoir to suspense. Just scroll down the list and click one to start the YouTube video.

Marla is an author, founder of Marketing the Muse, and past Assistant Director of Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Her video series “Critique My Query” is available at theWriterMag.com.

Blackbird

http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/

This online journal of literature and the arts is open to submissions until April 15, 2012. Considers poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and plays. Pays after publication.

Free Writer Info/Holiday Flash Fiction call

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses. 

Is your writing is on hold because you’re too busy having a Merry Christmas, celebrating another holiday, or just plain enjoying some great seasonal food? They sound like good excuses to me.

If you’ve overindulged and need a break, take a rest at the Gotham Writers' Workshop web site. You will find many articles on various aspects of writing, plus information on their online and NYC classes.

If the holidays inspire you to write something short and quick, Earthbound Fiction wants Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Mystery flash (500 words or less) with a holiday theme. Payment is via PayPal only. The deadline for holiday themed stories is December 31, 2011.